


A Mastermind’s Mind

by FixerRefutation



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Different Mastermind, Fluff, Gen, M/M, Mastermind Saihara Shuichi, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Ouma not Oma, Puppy Love, Twisted and Fluffy Feelings, a little bit, and more characters to be added - Freeform, honestly not sure what I’m doing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-20
Updated: 2019-01-20
Packaged: 2019-06-30 00:01:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 13,339
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15739977
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FixerRefutation/pseuds/FixerRefutation
Summary: They all script masterminds as psycho, personality-switching, despair-loving sickos. And it’s true! ..Most of the time. But right now, it’stheirshow, and they’re planning to stay out of the norm.Kokichi Ouma still manages to throw an unexpected wrench in their plans, though.





	1. A New Type of Mind (Saihara Shuichi, Log 1, Chapter 1)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Someone who actually likes what I write](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Someone+who+actually+likes+what+I+write).



> Something my insomniac brain came up with at like one or so 
> 
> Also, idk how long this is gonna be? Maybe it’ll just be drabbles maybe it’ll be done in two chapters I dunnoooooo
> 
> Enjoy?

Kokichi Ouma was a paranoid, lying, and very cute asshole. Shuichi knew that. So did Maki, Himiko, Kiibo, and literally everyone else, really. The cute part to a lesser degree, but Shuichi had always noticed the little things more than big things. It was always what made him an ultimate, he liked to think. He noticed the way Ouma’s eyes sparkled when he was excited, noticed the leader’s minuscule blushes when a boy he fancied returned his flirts, noticed the rare, soft smiles he had when listening to everyone else.

Did he forget to mention? He forgot to mention. Shuichi was also very, very gay. Or rather, bi. He didn’t understand the problem about boys falling in love with boys. It honestly wasn’t much different than being in love with a girl, really.

He checked the time, and moved away from the computer room.

 

-

 

The dining hall was rather nice, to be honest. Even without Tojo-san, it retained its unnatural shine and lively plants. It was Shuichi and Harukawa-san’s turn to cook, and Gokuhara and Shirogane-san’s turn to wash the dishes. Of course, the dishes usually just.. _replaced_ themselves, but they went through all the trouble anyway to retain a sense of normalcy. Today, Shuichi offered to work on the drinks, and Maki the food. 

“Ouma-kun, would you like anything?” The boy breaks from his thoughts, smiling up at Shuichi as the detective blushes slightly in embarrassment and wishes he had a hat as he realizes the obvious answer. “Erm, right, panta. Right.” The leader stares at the detective before grinning as he asks for tea instead.  “Lots and looots of sugar, Shumai! Oh, and surprise me, too!” Shuichi looks back for a moment, and very nearly freezes as he glances at Ouma’s face. He realizes what he was doing, and Shuichi bites his lip before moving back into the kitchen, where Maki stares at the pink creeping down his neck before she says, “It was Ouma again, wasn’t it.” It’s not a question. It’s just a statement that has Shuichi hiding his face in his hands and nodding sheepishly.

Her expression darkens. “I’ll take care of his drink.” She says, discreetly moving to take out what he presumes to be a bottle of poison. “A-ah, no! It’s fine,” He replies, moving in front of the boiling kettle. “I-i just...got a bit..embarrassed. Really, I can take care of his drink!” The assassin looks at him before returning to her perch near the oven, a faint scent of nikujaga wafting into the air. He awkwardly turns around to drop some sugar cubes inside the empty cup, waiting for the water to quit boiling.

While waiting, he begins on the other’s drinks. “Ginger tea for Himiko, water for Gonta..” He sets down two empty cups a few ways away from Ouma’s cup, and fills two more with water from the fridge. “Water for Kaito, boba tea for Miu..” he prepares everything with a practiced ease. Maki glances back at him occasionally, checking on his progress as if to make sure the drinks weren’t sabotaged.

Shuichi remembers Kokichi’s face, the bags under his eyes, and the fatigued, more vulnerable demeanor the leader possessed, and hopes he’s not making a terrible decision when he drops two white pills in the dark, sugary tea.

 Everything is secured on a wide platter, and Kokichi’s is placed on the far left. Shuichi smiles awkwardly as he sits the tea in front of him, and leaves as quickly as he can. This is alright. He can work with this.

 

The script might not be so knocked out of balance, with enough time.

 

-

 

Kokichi stood in front of his whiteboard, pondering for the one-hundredth fifty-second time who the mastermind could be. “Hmm…” he muttered, tapping his fingers to the pictures thoughtfully. “Maki would be too obvious.. so unlikely. Himiko is an idiot...maybe. Shirogane is also an idiot…but she blends in..maybe? Kiibo? No. Saihara-chan..” He thoughtfully tapped the picture, deep in thought. “He’s carried us through all these trials.. but maybe it was to earn trust? ..keep the _game_ going?” His stomach churned at the very thought.

 _Getting too attracted to the pretty detective, idiot.._ he chided himself. “Maybe.. Kaito? No, given how much blood he’s been choking up. No mastermind would do that to themselves, unless they’re an idiot..right? Gonta? No. Miu makes shit for me, so she’s out, I guess…” 

He fell backwards into the bed, turning on his stomach to nuzzle his face into the headrest. “Mmmm..” _I want to sleep_ . This bed was inhumanly soft, and it was _really freaking stupid_ because his stupid body didn’t want to do important things for his plans when captured in the sheets. An increasingly hazy voice argues that _I had tea, I should be awake..who…_ He attempted to pull himself up, but he guesses all those nights of staying up at odd hours hit him hard, and he collapsed within the minute.

 

-

 

Shuichi is honestly surprised when he realizes that _that worked better than I thought._ No Ouma-kun poking around and very well nearly coming close to finding his secret entrance (seriously, how determined was he to invade _every single room_ in the academy? Not to mention the _girl’s bathrooms,_ where the entrance was located.) “..at least if he _does_ manage to find this place, he’ll think the mastermind’s a girl.” Playing with a Monokuma, he leans forward and waits for Iruma to finally take a break, sweat beading her neck, the girl grinning wildly and- what is that?

He’s nose-to-nose with the camera, watching as the girl’s smile stretches in desperation.

 

Despair.

 

-

 

Kokichi’s out. He’s sprawled out on the bed, scarf haphazardly hanging off a desk. The inner tube is propped carefully on the floor, just in case he falls off the bed. Quiet, light snores enamate from him, and despite the air conditioner cooling his body, he still feels scarily warm. He’s on his stomach, hugging what looks like a horse mask.

“..mm..” He turns, just a little bit, before his lips tilt up slightly and he breathes out in a long, quiet exhale.

 

-

 

That despair reminds him so much of a blonde fashionista he’s adored since he was little. It’s twisted and cracked in two so very well that he’s almost convinced Miu could make an amazing Junko. Kokichi was the same, always so _close_ to cracking, and dancing away from the fine line again and again. A thin trail of saliva runs down his chin, but no, Shuichi’s not drooling-

 

He wipes at his chin.

 

No, he’s drooling. “..A-ah..” He can’t play the detective if he became despair-ridden! Quick, check the nanobots to- he flicks the cameras to Ouma’s room.

 His heart slows its erratic rhythm. In a very, very brief flash of courage, he commands the nanobot to zoom into Kokichi’s face as his ears turn a light pink. The leader is beautiful. The lights are dim, the only source being a lamp that seemed to have been brought from the warehouse. Ouma’s small frame is enveloped by just the right lighting, small intakes of breath and the occasional light snore. He hums, just a little bit, and smiles, something so soft and unguarded that it makes Shuichi lose his breath for a moment.

 

Ouma is pretty.

 

Ouma is level-headed.

 

Ouma is…

 

Ouma is completely defenseless.

 

Shuichi quickly turns his head away from the light of the monitors, blushing wildly. He shouldn’t be thinking of someone like that. He shouldn’t be thinking of _fiction_ like that.

 

He peeks through his fingers.

 

Ouma’s pale neck greets his eyes.

And he becomes a whole new shade of red, nestling his head into his arm in embarrassment, switching out of Ouma’s room and setting everything to auto mode.

After what he’d seen.. he seriously needed to sleep.

 

 

Or maybe some holy water.


	2. Saihara Shuichi (Log 1, Chapter 2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I gave a seaweed to a homeless mister today. I hope he likes it ;•v•

First of all, Kokichi Ouma couldn’t remember what he did last night. That was suspicious.

 

Second of all, he’d  _ never  _ had a good night’s sleep. Doubly suspicious.

 

Finally, he should have that familiar pain that was always present on his neck or back due to staying up late plotting- and he didn’t?

 

Drugged. Definitely drugged.

 

How?

 

_ Who prepared the food? The drinks? _

 

Shuichi and Harukawa, right? Harukawa might’ve done it, but he made sure to pick the same foods as everyone else ordered, making it easier to lose sight of his (apparently) drugged meal. Even so, she was an assassin. If she wanted to kill him, she would’ve made his food lethal, or slow-acting and painful, at the very least. But really, all he was was unusually relaxed and comfortable. What even was the point of sedating him, anyway?

 

“Geeeez, Makiroll,” he whined, pouting childishly. “If you gotta kill me, at least do it right. I feel neglected.” The creeping unease that Harukawa likely wasn’t the one who’d drugged him set him on edge. 

 

...Shuichi’s tea had tasted weird.

 

Only Shuichi and Harukawa were in the kitchen together, and why would Harukawa want to do  _ anything _ not related to murder? So if it wasn’t Harukawa, then…

 

..But really?  _ Shuichi?  _ The poor detective wouldn’t know how to murder unless it went up and bit him in the ass. Or maybe he’d noticed the bags underneath Ouma’s eyes and wanted to help? There were other ways to get someone to sleep, honestly. But he needed confirmation from the source itself. 

 

Who  _ was  _ Saihara Shuichi under his layer of deceit?

 

-

 

This chapter, Shuichi was going by tradition.

 

Gonta had to go. How..? 

  
He’d get to it later.

 

Shuichi glanced around the empty corridors, staying as silent as possible as he crept into the computer room. The soft  _ whir  _ of the computers continued as he searched the lines of code Miu had carefully crafted into existence. 

 

“...mmm..” He clicked down, checking and rechecking her code. “Everything..seems fine..characters..Kaito..I see. Gonta..check. Kokichi…ah.” He stared at the commands Kokichi’s avatar was programmed to have. “So Miu’s planning to murder someone, huh.” 

Method eleven, plan sixteen. He’d scripted and written and altered it so much in the entry for the Ultimate Inventor’s murder plans, and it ended in a total mess. So instead, he’d taken the basic idea (virtual world with a ‘real world’ motive), and revamped all his murder and plot ideas for all sixteen of them. So apparently they were using that journal? As much as he hated to admit it, the special code on Kokichi wasn’t his doing, and this murder plan had felt farfetched.

 

...it was soooo embarrassing for them to use his most terrible idea. It almost made him blush, really. 

 

“Well..”, he paused, getting up and stretching a bit. “I should leave the code as is, I guess..”  _ I want to see how this plays out.  _ He hides the code in the highest place possible (calling on a monokuma to bring it to the top of the cube for him) before leaving the academy to go outside.

 

He strolled down the path leisurely, smiling as Miu, looking rather groggy, stumbled past him. He really had too many laxatives in the detective’s lab. 

 

-

 

Kokichi spent some time pestering Kiibo like he always did, the robot shifting uncomfortably and occasionally responding to the leader’s taunts, indignant.

 

“Kiiboy, are you suuure you can’t rocket-boost us out of here?”    
  
“Ou-Ouma-kun, for the  _ last  _ time, I do not have such a function!  _ Please,  _ this is the thirty-fourth time you’ve asked me this!” 

 

“Aww, am I hurting Kiiboy’s nonexistent feeelings?”

 

“ _ No!” _

 

“Nishishi..”   
  


“Ouma-kun.” The leader turned his attention to the robot’s more serious tone of voice. “Are..are we really friends..?”

 

Kokichi paused, considering the question. “Hmm, why do you ask?”

 

“It’s- it’s just…” The robot raised a fist, clenched it for a moment, and left it to swing idly by his side. “You tease me all the time. And while observations say that friends often tease each other..I can’t help but feel as if you mean what you say.” 

 

Kokichi considered it for a moment. Stop teasing Kiibo? Never in a million years. Kiibo being overwhelmingly suspicious? No doubt about that. On the other hand..? Being a friend with a robot? Cool.

 

“That’s what lies are about, hmm?”

 

The robot startles, looking surprised. Ouma snickered, enjoying the robot’s confusion. “If you believe it, my lies must be flawless!”

 

Kiibo’s ahoge curls into a question mark. He almost swears he’s seen the exact same thing on Shuichi. No one really reacted to any ahoge movements, so he was halfway convinced he was just becoming delusional.

 

That.. that was off topic, wasn’t it?

 

“Ah,,I see now.” Kokichi looked at Kiibo’s face,which looked pleasantly happy, holding a shy blush as he fiddled with his fingers. “So..we are friends. That’s...a nice development.”

 

Kokichi was caught off guard for a moment. Kiibo actually  _ liked  _ being friends with him? The mini dictator with a hobby of spilling paint into everyone’s clothes? Whose talent was pissing off literally every human within a five-mile radius?

A little smile of his colors his face a light pink as he looks away in slight embarrassment. Friends, huh? “..Yeah, guess we  _ are  _ friends then.” He clears his throat and looks up; Kiiboy’s staring at him with yet another surprised expression, the robot's face lighted with a more prominent pink, becoming red. 

 

“You..you smiled.”

 

He stared back at Kiiboy, smiling as he moved his arms behind his head. “I smile all the time! I have no idea what you’re talking about, Kiibs!” He begins to walk off into the direction of the school. Kiibo keeps his pace, attempting desperately to explain what was so great about a simple smile.

 

“W-well, you see-“

 

Miu slumped past the two, looking like hell. “What happened to you, pig?” Kokichi calls after her, only to receive no answer besides a tired grunt. Kiibo tried asking the same question, and on their prompting, she finally answers, voice low and heavy with fatigue. “This is why I don’t fucking stop working at..” she yawned. “..night. Whenever I fucking crash..” another yawn, and she stretched far enough for Kiibo to wince. “A’m always soo buzzed..to continue..”

 

She looks about ready to collapse. Kiibo drags Kokichi and pesters him to help the robot carry her to the dorms.

 

“Where’s your super strength when we need it, Kiiboy..?” 

 

“I don’t have  _ that _ function..either..!” 

 

Miu is honestly dead weight in their hands. Kokichi waved his hand in front of her face once or twice, and receiving no answer, he tries asking her what she had to eat the last few days. On the sixteenth try, she answers. “..ffff..all I haad.. was some fff.. Boba..tea..still g’tta mod things..ta’ hell n’...” 

 

Too tired to cuss? Drugged, probably.

 

Her head lolls forward, and they have to shake her violently for her to reawaken. She sees her room and snickers hysterically. “Soo..we’ee havin’ a threesome..? ‘Cause dicks got Kiibo..?”

 

Said robot flushes with red, throwing her on the bed (to which she moans), grabbing Kokichi (who only laughs)  and sprinting out the door as quickly as possible.

 

“Kiiboy, I think the slut likes you.”

 

“Please don’t say things like that!” Kokichi hums, focusing on the school as he slows down to keep pace with Kiibo. “Anyways, I’m off to go find my beloved Saihara.”

 

Kiibo stops, almost expecting Kokichi to wave him off. When that doesn’t come, he asks, “Then..! Would it be okay if I accompanied you?” The leader doesn’t answer, only continuing along the path. The robot joins him, and they walk together in tranquil silence.

 

“So..I’ve been wondering. It’s an honest, critical question. Do robots..have-“

 

“ _ We are  _ not  _ talking about that right now!” _

 

-

 

Shuichi rested on a bench along the path. He closed his eyes, admiring the calm in this dome. Thankfully, Angie was dead, and so was Tenko, so now everything was quiet. Only four loud ones were left, and Kaito was going to die anyway while Miu and Gonta were planned to die somehow this chapter. Maybe he could twist things around, where the giants who used to be victims could be murderers! And  _ oh _ , imagine all the tears and  _ despair  _ everyone would have to go through..! Even  _ he  _ would be miserable! 

 

And..Kokichi? His sweet Koko would be  _ stewing  _ in  _ despair  _ at the loss of his only ally! It was all so  _ adorable..! _

 

He turned pale. “..ahem,” he muttered, reaching for the hat that he’d left behind for the sake of the detective’s plot line. That same detective personality prohibited him from murder, and made him stew with anxiety half the time. Everything had gone rather off rails in the first chapter, huh? The generic, hope-filled protagonist being the first to murder? 

 

..it wasn’t entirely true, but she set the trap that still condemned her and Rantaro in the end. Shame, Rantaro could’ve added so many interesting character developments and unnecessary plot twists had he lived longer.

 

Ah well. The love interest being a ‘traitor’ had already been used in Chiaki’s story. Protagonist masterminds weren’t usually used, considering they were meant to be favorites of the crowd and whatnot.

 

That didn’t mean they were  _ disliked,  _ though. The crowd would absolutely love it.

 

Shuichi should know. This was his dream.

 

-

 

Kokichi spots Shuichi first, quite a ways away from the two of them. He basically leaves poor Kiiboy in the dust as he makes use of this extra energy and runs over, digging his heels into the dirt as he stands in front of Shuichi. The detective is relaxing on a bench, eyes closed and smiling at the sky. It’s so peaceful.

 

Perfect time to interrupt.

 

“Saihara-chan! Shumai! Shu! Heeey, listen! ...pay attention to meeee!”

 

The navy-haired detective startled guiltily, turning his head to face Ouma, eyes focusing and unfocusing. “O-oh.. Ouma-kun?” 

 

“Hey, Shumai! So guess what?” Kokichi sat next to him and clung onto his arm, smiling mischievously as he sidled up to the detective. Said detective turned pink, red on his ears as Kokichi nuzzled him. 

 

Saihara-chan smelled nice.

 

“O-ouma-kun, are you alright?” Shuichi pulled the leader off gently, brushing the bangs off the leader’s face and feeling his forehead. Kokichi  _ nishishi _ ’d, brushing off the detective’s worry and continued on with his reason of being with Shuichi. 

 

“I’m super alright! If you know, you don’t count drugging me last night.” 

 

Shuichi froze.

 

-

 

He really should’ve expected this. Hell, he  _ did  _ expect this. His Koko was so very smart, wasn’t he? It was rather obvious, wasn’t it?

 

“I-I’m sorry, Ouma-kun..” he began, raising his arm to the back of his head in an expression reminiscent of Kaito. “You just looked so tired and I thought-“ he closed his eyes, looking as sheepish as possible. “Thought that you needed the sleep.” 

 

Ouma was silent for a moment. Shuichi’s expression didn’t change. This wasn’t a lie.

 

“You..you do know there’s other ways to get people to sleep, right Saihara-chan?” A pause followed the sentence before Ouma gasped, fake tears springing out of his eyes as he wailed. “Or..have you been  _ lying  _ about your intelligence? Are you actually an idiot with the IQ of a vegetable?! Are you  _ Momota-chan?!” _

Shuichi smiled hesitantly. “I’m sure if I asked you politely, you still wouldn’t do it.”  Kiibo caught up, panting, exhausted. “Ouma-kun, I heard you yelling, are you al-!” Shuichi nervously laughed as the robot paused, looking in between him and Ouma’s fat tears that fell from his cheeks. 

 

“Um..”

 

“Sorry Kiibo-kun, it’s just Ouma-kun being...Ouma-kun, as always.”

 

“But don’t you like that about me?”

 

“Don’t be silly, I like everything about you, Ko-um.”

 

A pause between the three of them started as soon as it ended, and the leader laughed, even while the tips of his ears were red-tinted. “Really, now? I hadn’t pegged you as a liar but sur-!” Kiibo covers Kokichi’s mouth, muttering something to Ouma before letting him go.   
  
“Well, it was nice talking to you, Saihara-chan! ..Or maybe that’s a lie? Ah well, bye!” Kokichi grabs Kiibo’s wrist, and darts away to the school.

 

-

 

Shuichi looks at Kokichi’s retreating back, and hides a smile beneath his hand. Manipulating people was always..so easy. 

  
He couldn’t reach through to Kokichi so easily with simple friendship and little trust. He had to work a bit more, dig a bit deeper, didn’t he? If he got Kokichi to trust him… Drool slips out of his mouth, and he wipes at it, his detective side cringing with slight disgust. Chapter four could benefit his relationship with Kokichi if Miu played her cards right, and if Gonta got his motive for murder.If he could get Ouma to  _ love  _ him, his biggest, self-made obstacle would get out of the way whilst giving him and Ouma more popularity as a  _ couple. _

His cover wouldn’t be blown so quickly, as he believed-  _ knew _ \- that Ouma Kokichi wouldn’t believe he was the mastermind. Plus, masterminds usually preferred staying out of the spotlight, much like Shirogane now. Maybe in another time, she would’ve been an okay mastermind. No doubt she’d probably change things into some sub-par anime trope killing game. 

 

Ouma Kokichi was an interesting existence. A liar who hates lying. The others weren’t much different, though.

 

His creations all loved to lie to themselves, didn’t they?

 

-

 

“What..is this?”   
  
“Something the slut was working on.”

 

“O..kay. Why do you want to know what’s Iruma-san’s doing?”   
  
“She’s been acting paranoid all week. You visit her often. Shouldn’t you already know this?”   
  


“I mean, she  _ has  _ been strange lately, but I’ve always assumed it was because of work related reasons. “ 

 

“..yeah, okay. Now, where’d she put all the code..?”

“I’m afraid I do not know. Miu hasn’t exactly indulged me with every last one of her secrets, Ouma-kun.”    
  
“Okay, first of all, when did you learn how to sarcasm? Second of all, I found the computer she’s been typing all the code on, but it’s too high up and we’re both too short.”

 

“Well, damn.”

  
“..yeah. Chair time?”

 

“Chair time, I suppose.” Kokichi and Kiibo dragged over a chair, setting it near the giant cube in the middle of the room. Kokichi climbs on it first. Kiibo gawks for approximately five seconds before beginning to protest. “I’m taller than you, Ouma-kun! Shouldn’t I be the one getting the computer..?” Kokichi  _ nishishi’ _ d in return, rising to his feet as he reaches a thin arm out for the computer. “But what if you’re super clumsy? Y’know, with those big, clunky metal fingers.”

  
“I do  _ not  _ have clunky fingers, Ouma-kun! My fingers are perfectly normal for a high school student! Is..is this your robophobia finally shining through?!” 

  
“Shush, quiet and let me focus.”

 

A few moments pass with Ouma waving his hands desperately to the computers, and silence persists as Kiibo notices what’s going on. 

 

“..You’re too short, aren’t you.”

  
“...mmhmm.”

 

-

 

Miu bit her lip excitedly. Besides the minor hiccup of that one day of sleep and blurry events, she was more or less finished. The code on Kokichi was down to a T, and everything was in place. There was no way anyone would guess what happened, and by the off chance the they  _ could,  _ well. She spared a glance at her electrohammers. 

 

...either way, she would live.

 

 

 

 

**...N e o  W o r l d P r o g r a m..**

 

**B e g i n.**

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so i was thinking like every mastermind drabble has four or less chapters in which they're the ringleader. One with normal day to day things, another with actual kinda plot, final with chapter six-- something like that! Then like, a bunch of notes i took about them beforehand and quotes i wanted them to say as stuff like that. There will most likely be drabbles of multiple mastermind cause why not
> 
> but i don't want to make every drabble a mundane repeat of shuichi's mastermind thing, soooo it would be really nice if i got suggestions on what you want to see! (because i have no ideas whatsoever) 
> 
> ..also, Shuichi's mastermind thing if four chapters because i wanted to add chapter 4 but was too lazy to write a big chapter ehehe
> 
> did i say everything..? i dunno


	3. Saihara Shuichi (Log 1, Chapter 3)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry i wanted to add more but homework
> 
> ,,also, happy birthday, Choaru!

A voice ran through the speakers. It was loud, brash, and most definitely female. 

 

“...’ello? ‘Ellooooo? Hey shits, wake the fuck up!” A tap or two to the microphone, Shuichi figured, would probably leave quite a bit of spite from the other students, him included. It took a moment for him to realize that Miu was using the broadcast system and that  _ she shouldn’t be using the broadcast system.  _

But _no._ _No._ It was too damn early to make him take over the broadcast system right now. The world could burn, he had to _sleep._ He burrows back under bed, and it takes five minutes for him to _actually_ come to his senses. 

  
..That, and Miu’s practically yelling over the screens. “Hey, stop your  _ orgies _ for one second and listen to me!” Her voice lowers by a few decibels.”Uhh, so hey, I finished my scan of the computer thing..so after breakfast, come and see it! I’m not giving  _ any  _ of you shits excuses to not go, cuz in that thing..there’s a way to escape! Isn’t that fucking wonderful?!”

... There went his peaceful morning. Shuichi groaned for a whole minute, hesitantly getting out of bed and moving sluggishly. If anyone knew he was the mastermind at this moment, he’d get killed so  _ easily.. _

It wasn’t like he was getting  _ off _ to dying or anything, not like the original one. She was far outside his league, the best of the best and the most insane. He just..liked the thought of it. Splashing his face, his eyes brightened, and he stretched himself awake.

He opened his door slowly, spotting Himiko sporting the same lethargy he had just a few minutes ago. Himiko wasn’t really meant to be a survivor, much less survive until the third chapter. Korekiyo was meant to off her and not Angie. He wanted to see the artist’s carefully crafted faith become snapped and shattered when she realized her god wouldn’t protect just two of her loyal followers. 

Would she continue to smile and say it was Atua’s will? Would she cry when she realized her first friend, Himiko had well and truly died, and that the killing game  _ wasn’t  _ a fake? Would she stew in despair? Be killed by another? Murder someone? Herself? 

 

Be drowned in her own lab? Be stabbed by a follower? Poisoned? Burned? Choked? 

 

Who knew? Even if it  _ was  _ slightly disappointing to see that Himiko just stayed in her room for a week or so before leaving. Probably because of Tenko’s last words. Shame; this chapter could’ve been done already and they’d finally be in the midst of the biggest trial. And chapter six..

 

He couldn’t wait for chapter six.

 

-

 

Kokichi had many plans; some of which another ultimate dies, some where everyone died; most if  _ he  _ died. Honestly, if he died, everyone could venture his room and find the clues he was not willing to give. After all, if it came out of his mouth, no one would believe it, and they’d probably all be stupid enough to just not delve deeper into his words. Even so, he couldn’t predict  _ everything. _

He hadn’t calculated that anyone but Monokuma and the mastermind could access the microphone with just a bit of hacking. He hadn’t realized that  _ Iruma _ would be able to access the systems like that. He had to ask her about that later.

His latest-and riskiest plan- was to usurp the mastermind and instead steal their power in the game. He knew about the outside world. He knew Gonta could be useful and he knew that things were risky. He knew about the virtual world and he knew that Iruma was planning a murder. He had all the cards. 

 

Now, how to play them?

 

-

 

Miu grumbled to herself as she was kicked out of the system for about the twenty-third time. By now, she would’ve given up, and resigned herself to using half-charged electrohammers to escape, but the hammers took a while, almost too long to charge, and she couldn’t use superchargers or else her precious creations would be viable to break, or overcharge and drain fast.

She was close to breaking through the complex codes and such of the broadcast system, growling at a block and cursing at a falter. “What kind of fuckin’ inventor would I be if I let this damn program defeat me..?!”

After an hour or so of nonstop coding, a little  _ ding! _ played, with a cartoonish bear dancing in the middle of her screen. She grinned in excitement. She got the mastermind’s very own damned computer to unlock, and it didn’t even take her all night! (It took her a few hours to figure out how to remove the computer from the top of the block, though. How’d it even get so high..?)

As soon as it finished loading, she was basically buzzing in her seat. What was it going to be like? Did the mastermind know that she had it? 

 

And if she knew who the mastermind was, could she kill them?

 

At first, there seemed to be files on all sixteen of them. Normal for a mastermind. But when she clicked, the computer gave out a loud  _ beeeeep _ and the screen with the files grew dark, automatically switching to another desktop labeled, ‘General.’

 

“What..the fuck.?”

 

The second desktop had a wallpaper of Kokichi Ouma.

 

“So..that fucking virgin was the mastermind, huh..?” She snickered. Two birds, one stone.

 

Her plan began, and she began the broadcast.

 

-

 

“...’ello? ‘Ellooooo? Hey shits, wake the fuck up!” Kokichi’s..dreaming, isn’t he? There no way a slut like her managed to get to the broadcast system anyway so- “Hey, stop your _orgies_ for one second and listen to me!” Orgies? What’re those? Probably something dirty and sex-related. Dream Miu’s so in character it’s strange. “..Uhh, so hey, I finished my meddling with that fucking computer..so after breakfast, come and see it! I’m not giving _any_ of you shits excuses to not go, cuz in that thing..there’s a way to escape! Isn’t that fucking wonderful?!”

 

He peeks open an eye. Miu’s on the broadcast. Strange. Shouldn’t Monokuma have stopped her by now? 

 

..oh no, Miu’s gone. Monokuma’s back, and so are the idiot Monokubs. 

 

Kokichi goes back to sleep.

 

-

 

Shuichi looks around nervously for a sign of familiar purple, wayward hair and long, wild blonde locks. He offers to bring breakfast for the inventor and the leader, and thanks to his timid personality, no one questions a thing. Miu hadn’t gone to breakfast for three days in a row, and it’d be a stupid plot line if someone just up and died of starvation. 

He reaches the computer room, prepared to just leave the tray at the bottom of the supercomputer before Miu  _ bursts  _ out from behind the computer, smiling in what looked like smug pride. “Hey, hey Suchara-“ 

 

He balked. That was a new one.

 

“-this fucking beautiful girl genius found out all the mastermind’s secrets-!”

 

No way. No fucking way she would’ve found out all his secrets if she’s just spewing this all out to him. He leaned forward, just a little bit interested to see if she actually found something on him. She grabs his shoulders and stares him in the eyes. “I know you have the hots for him, but you gotta keep it in, ‘kay? Ouma’s gonna kill you to hell n’ back. I mean, how narcissistic can he be if he has  _ himself _ saved as his wallpaper?” She  _ kyahaha’s _ and leans back, obviously satisfied with herself. 

 

..huh.

 

He turns pink, in slight embarrassment. He forgot to change the wallpaper.  _ He forgot to change the wallpaper and thank god Miu isn’t very good at tactical thinking. _ Miu notices the detective’s blush and gawps for a whole second before raising up a shaking finger. “D-don’t tell m-me...are you  _ getting off to this? _ ” She starts sweating slightly and blushing, looking off to the side. “Y-you know...you can l-let it all out at m-m-me..” Shuichi flushes. That..that wasn’t what he was insinuating. 

 

He’ll just..pretend he didn’t hear that. 

 

“Well..thank you for confiding in me, Iruma-san. I promise I’ll be careful around Ouma-kun.” He takes the second breakfast tray and leaves Iruma alone.

 

-

 

Ouma stretches himself awake, reaching for his scarf and taking out one of his uniforms. It takes a while to button up everything he has on, and he pauses a bit before continuing. A knock on his door begins just before he puts on his scarf, and he opens the door, just slightly, to see who’s out there.

 

Shuichi notices the vibrant violet eyes that study him though the crack of the door, and he smiles.

 

Kokichi has to shut the door for five seconds because  _ goddamn _ \- 

 

“Saihara-chan? A bit too early to hang out with me, y’know? I only come out this early for  _ interesting  _ people.” A small laugh, and Shuichi’s slowly pushing the door open with one hand as he replies, “Sorry, Ouma-kun. It’s just me.” Ouma’s quiet for a moment, and Shuichi successfully enters. “Would you like some breakfast?” Kokichi snaps out of it and smiles up at him. “Only if you eat it with me!” They sit the tray full of food on the bed, and Kokichi sits across from him, smiling innocently.

Shuichi backs up, waving his hands around complacently. “A-ah no, Ouma-kun; I already ate, this is for you-“ Kokichi whined, having the need to act as annoying as he could. “But what if it’s poisoned? I don’t wanna die alone!” Without warning, he takes a spoon and shoved some natto into the detective’s mouth, then takes a bite for himself. 

 

..yummy.

 

“There!” He grins, swallowing the food as Shuichi did the same. “Now we’ll die together!” Shuichi is surprised for a moment before he laughs quietly and takes a dumpling for himself, slowly relaxing on the bed. A cool dumpling is pushed to Kokichi’s lips, and the leader blinks in surprise before opening his mouth obediently. As soon as he finishes chewing, he cheers and makes to return the favor, “Here! Think of it as a gift from a supreme leader! I make all the stops, y’know?”

 

They end up taking turns feeding each other.

 

-

 

Gonta’s lost so many friends. He’d never really gotten the chance to actually  _ have _ friends, save for the woodland animals he’d been fond of petting. He was always too dumb, too scary, too strange. 

 

Shuichi said Gonta was gentle.  
  


Kokichi said Gonta was his friend.

  
Himiko said Gonta was warm.  
  


Miu said Gonta was large.  
  


Maki said Gonta was Gonta.  
  


Kaito said Gonta was good.

  
Tsumugi said Gonta was sweet.

  
Kiibo said Gonta was kind.

 

Gonta had never been complimented before. For the first time since he left his family, Gonta was happy. So..if Gonta could help in any way, if Gonta could do anything for his friends, Gonta would.

 

Gonta would do everything.

 

-

  
  
  
  


A while later, after continuous prompting, and Miu’s insistent ringing on  _ all  _ their doorbells, all of the remaining ultimates move to the computer room, most arriving in pairs while others came alone. Kokichi nuzzles Shuichi’s arm for a moment before stepping away and letting the detective enter by himself. Shuichi adopts a politely confused look at Miu, whose hands are on her hips and moving around, seeming a bit nervous.

“Don’t be depressed just cuz you didn’t get to spend any alone time with me!” Miu starts off, and already Shuichi regrets his decision to arrive here. He spurs on the conversation anyway.

“..Do I look “depressed’’ to you?” Tsumugi added, “There’s no way we wouldn’t show up when we were told there’s a chance to escape.” Himiko looked away, playing with a strand of hair. “But I still think it smells fishy…” 

Kokichi begins his usual teasing. “Really? Doesn’t it smell like something fun is gonna happen instead?” Kaito is irrelevant, but still speaks anyway. Even though Shuichi does treasure this time in the game, daily life, sometimes he’d just wish something would  _ happen _ already. So he cuts off the rambling to say, “So..how are we going to escape? Miu grins. “Well, we’re goin’ to another world, dumbass! A world without killing games  _ or _ Monokuma!” That’s..certainly ambitious. He acts accordingly. 

 

“Another world?” Their words fade out for a moment. Then Kokichi speaks. 

 

Miu bows.    
  
The others agree to listen in. 

 

Shuichi waits, occasionally adding in a few lines and talking with the others.

  
The minutes fly in a blur.

 

“..hey, let’s trust Miu! We should trust more in our friends anyway!” And that sentence scares Shuichi, mostly because it didn’t come from Kaito.

Kokichi? “Why..are you on Miu’s side?” He shifts his face to look slightly suspicious.    
  
“I’m not taking her side, but it’s like..I have a feeling we’ll find something in that world.” The leader just as quickly adds, “I mean, Monokuma created this world, right? Maybe he laid a bait to lure us in! Like..a super duper extra crazy secret!” Shuichi almost wants to hug Kokichi for progressing the story. 

And well, it’s not like Kokichi was wrong in his assumptions. After all, Shuichi did plan it out with him.

 

The secret of the outside world.

 

-

 

Miu watched as everyone’s consciousness left their bodies, entering the Neo World Program. Her hand clenched around a bottle of poison she’d hid in her chest, placing it carefully next to the mastermind. “Okay,” she whispers, backing into her chair slowly as if afraid to wake the rest of them up. “Just one person. Just one.”    
  
She enters the world.

 

*

 

A quick explanation of the world later, and she’s  _ finally _ starting the plan. Shuichi and Gonta might’ve screwed up her plans a bit, both volunteering to go after Ouma, but she trusts that Ouma’ll shake the both of them off quickly and move to the roof. Her hands hold a cellphone in one hand, a hammer in the other, and she sets out.

 

-

 

Kokichi wouldn’t have expected this. He knew Miu was insane, but this was just..too straightforward. Who in their right mind is gullible enough to head alone to a rooftop towards an idiot in a virtual world she’d probably modded to hell and back? 

Shuichi, for whatever reason, decided to stay with him, though he suspected that it was more out of a sense of duty. Gonta was there as a backup plan he’d probably shown to the giant at one point. He knew there was a flashback light here. His cards were in line. He was safe no matter what move he took. He wandered around, looking for the light Monokuma promised would be there.

  
Gonta seemed fascinated by the snow.

 

“..Ah, what’s this?” Both Kokichi and Gonta turn to see Shuichi kneeling down in the white-covered ground, holding the light. “..The secret of the outside world.” 

Kokichi backs up, smiling uneasily, even though the avatar doesn’t show it very well. The other two look to him questioningly. “..Gonta, do you want to see it first?” Shuichi asks after a minute of silence. Gonta looks at Shuichi, taking the light. “Okay! Wish Gonta luck in finding family!” 

Gonta’s tanned face slowly grows as pale as the fake snow, and the giant, in an uncharacteristic show of violence, hurls the light as far as he can throw. It lands in the snow about twenty metres away. His sweet, cartoonish face seems to be paused in a mix of angry horror. “What.. Gonta..” Shuichi turns to the light. “Shouldn’t we..?” Shuichi turned to Gonta. Kokichi nodded. “..It’s the truth, Gonta. It’s gone. Everything’s just..gone.” Shuichi pauses, looking at them questionably. Gonta clenches his avatar's hands. “...”

Shuichi laughs nervously, slowly taking both Gonta and Kokichi’s hands. “It’s alright..if you don’t want to tell anyone, Gonta. I-we’ll understand.” Gonta looks away from him, quiet. 

It takes a while for Gonta to begin speaking, and when he does, it’s nothing the kind giant they all knew would  _ ever _ say. “Maybe..it be better if..everyone didn’t see what Gonta saw. Better to go by Kokichi’s plan.”

Shuichi cocked his head in confusion. “You..aren’t going to..” Kokichi cuts him off with a loud yawn. “Well, I gotta go and meet pig-chan on the rooftop now! Gonta,” he  gestured, smiling. “Wanna come with?”

 

-

  
Shuichi lagged behind, and eventually, Kokichi couldn’t hear his voice anymore. He had to admit, he was a little surprised at how smoothly his plan was progressing. He got Gonta, more ideas and thoughts beneficial to his rapidly developing plan were beginning to take shape, and well, it seemed almost too good to be true. 

 

-

 

Miu was a bit surprised at how well her plan was progressing. Kokichi, contrary to expectations, readily agreed to her request, and she’s at the rooftop already. Though…

 

“I-Iruma-san!” A voice called out, and she hears the sound of increasingly loud steps. “Plea-please wait for me!” She looks, somewhat regrettably, at the hammer she’d, at the last second, programmed to become invisible just in case this exact same situation occurred. For exactly five seconds, she applauds her ingenuity as she stops, and lets Kiibo catch up. 

He eventually clasps her shoulder lightly, panting somewhat heavily. “Please, wall slower this time; why are you in such a hurry?” She looks at him, detached from her mind, as if in a haze. She puts her hands to her hips, a recurring habit, and her fingers reach for the handle of her hammer.

 

She could kill him right now.

 

She had the weapons, the smarts. The trust.

 

Just one or two  _ whacks _ and she’d be in the clear.

 

They could never figure it out.

 

And she’d be home free.

 

-

 

Kiibo watches quietly as Miu sneaks away from the others. He really cares for her, he really, honestly does, and his inner voice is yelling at him to  _ follow her, follow her _ \- 

 

And so he does.

 

“I-Iruma-san-!”

 

-

 

Kaito twitches, and a moment of silence passes before he quickly throws off his headset in disoriented confusion, realizes where he is, and pauses for a moment before  _ utter panic  _ kicks in and the first thing in his mind is  _ oh no _ .

 

Someone was going to get murdered, and he was going to be the prime suspect.

 

How’d he know? Because isn’t it obvious? Why else would he get kicked out, if it probably wasn’t a glitch? He scoffed. Miu would never leave such a big problem in the code.

Momota Kaito wasn’t exactly stupid, despite Ouma’s constant insistence. He wasn’t very good at logical thinking, sure, and he wasn’t good at talking to people, he knew. But this one time, he was  _ sure  _ of it. He has to go back in.   
  
Before he enters, he realizes.

 

He has to investigate first. 

  
-

 

Kokichi fidgets nervously.  _ It’s alright _ , he tries to reassure himself.  _ We talked it out. Gonta’s just going to restrain her until someone else finds her, and then we’re logging out. It’s okay. It’s okay. _ And Gonta? Gonta’s just hidden behind a prop close to him. The gentle giant is unnervingly quiet, and the only thing that the both of them can hear is a soft  _ whoosh _ of winter air.

 

It’s alright. It’s alright.

 

It’s alright.

  
He looks at gloomy skies, and hopes he isn’t making a huge mistake.

 

-

 

Shuichi’s carefully hidden himself near the entrance hall, waiting for Miu to enter. This isn’t exactly an entirely new scenario, considering he’d scripted Kokichi with a bit of a suicidal touch. 

...he thought it’d be entertaining. But his character designs shouldn’t be something he was doubting anyway, and who was he to judge when they’d all been approved in the end?

A part of him wishes he was still in the camera room, watching over Kokichi or sketching out more murder plans, but most of him is swept up in a flurry of excitement because  _ something’s happening and he was right there to witness it. _

 

He slowly slides down to sit in the corner of the virtual building, and he waits.

 

-

 

Gonta’s heart beats fast. It’s only ever done that when Gonta is scared, or when Gonta is running. Is Gonta scared, right now? 

Yes. The fear pounds away inside his chest, and he can’t breathe for a moment before taking in a sharp breath, feeling the cold air hit his face.

Kokichi explained to Gonta what Gonta should do. Kokichi explained that Gonta  _ shouldn’t kill, don’t kill _ and that Gonta just had to restrain Miu with the toilet paper he had in his hands.

But Gonta couldn’t-  _ wouldn’t -  _ hurt Miu. Gonta didn’t want Miu to kill for no reason. Gonta didn’t want Miu to become like Kirumi, like Kaede. So Gonta would make himself useful, and Gonta would..

  
Gonta would save everyone.

 

-

 

Her hand releases its tight grip on the hammer. She sighs. Miu couldn’t kill such an obviously loved invention. As an inventor, it would kill her to just take the creation of another inventor and just. Kill it in cold blood.

Kiibo follows her. It’s a bit annoying, and her fingers twitch every time he comes close to her back. She soldiers through it anyway. If Kiibo was her friend, he would help her escape. He didn’t even like Kokichi anyway, so things were fine.   
  
They were fine.

 

It was alright.

 

Wasn’t it?

 

-

 

Kiibo follows Miu closely, not quite touching her, but close enough to reach out to her back. She moves a bit slowly, and her usual pattern of walking is more of a slight, momentary stagger that his camera feature catches rather easily. He wonders if he should help her, with a piggyback or..something. It’s a bit worrying, seeing your friend struggle to carry absolutely nothing as she climbs up to another room.

“Iruma-san,” he begins, reaching out to brush her shoulder. A finger twitch, and she turns around quickly. “What the  _ fuck, _ Kiibs?” He withdraws his hand sheepishly. “S-sorry,” he replies, backing away slightly as she turns back around. “I just- wanted to know why are were staggering.” When she replies, her voice is in a deadpan tone. “I stayed up for  _ at least _ five  _ fucking _ days to finish this for all of you. I’m  _ tired, _ idiot.”

“A-ah..” his ahoge dips slightly, and he shrinks back. They don’t speak until Miu opens the door to- the roof? “Okay.”

Did she want to talk to Momota about something? He peeks out from behind her. 

 

Kokichi stands there in place of Kaito, looking out the ledge.


	4. Saihara Shuichi, Log 1, Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry i took so long! i was down with a kinda-sorta cold, pff  
> i'm still down with a cold
> 
> um
> 
> thank you Choaru (who proofread this for mee)

Miu steps up, moving a small avatar hand to prevent Kiibo from joining her on the roof. As her finger twitches, she slowly moves over to Kokichi, looking as if she was measuring every step carefully.

 

Kokichi stands still. He’s there, staring straight through Miu.   
  
_He’s looking at me,_ Kiibo thinks with a detached sort of realization. While the avatar’s face doesn’t show much emotion, he knows Kokichi’s regarding him as less of a friend and more of a liar.

 

He can hear the words loud and clear ringing in his head. _You lied to me._ Kokichi almost says. _~~I thought we were friends.~~ You lied to me. _

 

Even though he knows he _shouldn’_ t be guilty, Kiibo winces and looks away, b _ecause he never betrayed Kokichi-_

 

He moves to climb up a step, attempting to reach Kokichi, but Miu pulls him back and growls in his ear. “That’s the _mastermind,_ idiot. Are you trying to get yourself _killed?”_ He stops, gaping at her in confusion. Sure, Kokichi was annoying at times, but right now, she shouldn’t be stooping to jokes like that!

Miu pulls Kiibo back into the stairway, eyeing the still white form on the rooftop. “Ya know, _Ouma_ .. did’ja get off to all this,” she gestures around her, carefully retracting the hammer from her back. “This _killin’?_ Well, didn’t you?”

  
Kokichi looks a bit confused at first. His avatar’s violet eyes regard her curiously, and she grins, a wide smile that was uncanny on such a familiar face. She starts walking, and Kiibo is frozen for a moment. He’d never seen that kind of expression before on her. It wasn’t registered on any of his databases, and his inner voice was going wild with sentiments of ‘despair’ or ‘insane.’ A part of his consciousness whispers, _are we going to witness a murder?_ , and the voice goes _absolutely wild._

Kiibo winces and backs down a step, managing to keep his balance. Another camera function _clicks_ to Kokichi’s face, whose eyes flash at him for approximately five seconds before focusing back on the blabbering inventor.

 

During her tirade, Miu gets even closer to Kokichi, reaching out to touch him-

 

Suddenly, there is a slight blur, and then Gonta’s there wrapping toilet paper around Miu’s-

 

Neck?

 

-

 

Kokichi stares off into space, taken in by the speckles of snow that rest on his nose and fingers, lighting the ground white. An artificial, full moon, that serves as the only source of light on the rooftops, stares back at him.

  
The sound of a shuffle starts behind Kokichi. He doesn’t mind. It’s just Gonta, after all. He stands still, blending in and contrasting the whites of the background. Then, the unmistakable sound of a door squeaking open.

 

He tilts his head, just a bit, to look at Miu. She has a hand out, as if trying to protect someone from him, and pulls a hammer out from nowhere.

 

Kokichi studies her for a while. A suspicious gaze, a prideful strut, and a shaking hand. So she was just as terrified as him...wasn’t she?

 

Miu sneers at him, something so full of malice and distrust that his mind runs wild with questions. W _hy? Why? Why?_ As soon as she finishes off her monologue casually, he finally _understands._ This could be a game-changer; this could be a chance. He doesn’t-he wouldn’t ever just decide to kill of someone, but if Gonta couldn’t _restrain_ her, then maybe...

He doesn’t move, only closes his eyes. No, even if he did want to kill her, there was no way Gonta would go along with it. Looking back at the inventor, he just now realizes that _there is actually someone behind her._ The figure is familiar, as is the hair, and...it’s a robot. A white-haired, blue-eyed robot teenager.

 

The robot looks at him apprehensively

 

Kokichi wants to kneel down and cry.

 

Instead, he just stares at his two former friends as they prepare to murder him. _I’m caught_ , he thinks. He isn’t willing to have them hurt as limiting casualties to at least two was at the top of his priorities. A part of him wonders if Shuichi would be just around the stairs like Kiibo was. Might as well destroy his faith in humanity when he was at his lowest, right?

 

(A small, small piece of him curls up somewhere, uselessly clawing at the ground in defeat.)

 

-

 

Shuichi sits up, listening to the noises on the rooftop. He nonchalantly flips open the cell he’d stolen from Miu while she was alone not too long ago, and logged Kaito in. The astronaut materializes a few meters away from Shuichi, looking confused as the detective’s avatar darted out to wave him over. “Ka-kaito,” he calls out quietly. The astronaut scratches the back of his neck and responds kindly, but louder than Shuichi expected him to be. “Eh, Shuichi? Why’re you hiding there all guilty-like?” Did...did he really look that suspicious?   


His mind unhelpfully recalls his awkward position behind the nearest object, and he...sort of wants to bash his head in through the wall now.

 

 _Mastermind killed before the sixth trial!,_ he muses, smiling a bit at all the complaints he would get. Goodness, the fan base was hard to deal with sometimes. At least by now, he and the rest were getting merch and videos about them. He hoped that by the time he finished this season, _Danganronpa_ would be on the top trending, and the talk of the world.

 _They say ‘it’s horrible’..._ He smiles, a simple quirk of the lips, as he filled Kaito in, choosing his words carefully. _But they can never stop what everyone else wants._ He watches Kaito’s face slowly grow white, letting his own match, and he deliberately, slowly, moves up the stairs as if the two of them were in some horror TV show. Shuichi can feel Kaito getting antsy behind him.

Shuichi stops, tapping a stair carefully with his foot. He bends down to pick up a little metallic strand of white, something Kiibo dropped every so often so Shuichi could find him if need be. The robot’s coding...seemed to have been transferred to the virtual world itself. Three more steps is a Miu’s mouse pin, merely a pinprick in the virtual world, but Shuichi picks it up and pockets it anyway.   
  
He hears the creaking of the door a few flights up, and realizes he has to stall as much as possible for this—albeit risky—plan to work.

 

“Wait,” Shuichi whispers as Kaito moves to walk past him. “If we’re going to confront them, don’t we need a plan?”

 

-

 

Kiibo staggers back, hand as if glued to his head. “U-ugh..” he muttered, just as the voice rose louder in a synonymous cacophony.

  


**_ŗ̷̡̦̤̺̦̦̘͖̼̘͖͍̥̘͉́̈̈́̌̒͐̋̍̑͊̆̀͘͝ ̷̢͋͛̆͗͊̌̂̓̍̓͛̿͂͐̇̂̇̾͆͝͠a̷̡̧̛̲̰̦̟̱̅̈́̿͌̃̔̈́̅̈̆̽̈́̓̔̊̇̏̌̈́͛̄͗͒̏͂̕͝͠ ̸̣͙̫́̃͑͋̾͌̎͛͆̓̀̐̋̑̇͗́̎̇͗͒̅͆̂̒͒̕͝͝͠ĩ̴̧͎͚̤̺͕̥̱̟̪͇͍̲͍̩̫͚̻͎͚̮̣͚̹̜͖̇͑̎̂̈́̄̽͗̊̍̕͜͝ ̶̧̧̛̛̖̻̰̩͓̘͙̰̗͈̝̤̠̟͖͓̼̮͔͈̤̒̒̎̓̈͒̈́̋̂̍͛̾͊̔͗̇̊͆͛͘͘̕͜͝͝͝ͅš̴̢͙̣̹̮̹̤̲̩͆͊͝ ̸̨̡̢̲̞̗͍̰̠̰̩̜̺̞̣̘͈͚̥́͊́͘͜͜ȩ̶̡̞̦͔̞̗̞̜̮͎̦̃͐̇̍̎̈́̈́̌̈́̎̋͛͌̍͗͒̏̒̎̅̄̈́̈̎̇͌̈́̎̕͝͠͠ ̷̨̤̳͒̈́ ̷̛̫̒͒͂͂͛̾͊̌͋̀̏̋̉̈́̉̀͗̆͑̒͂̾̄̍͐̕͘̚̕y̶̨̨͙͕̺̖͙̘̜̝͇̙̬̠̰̟͎͇͑̍̇͗̾̔̂͒̉̋̋̈̿̑͊̇̓̏̚͘̚̕͠ ̵̡̡̨̢̦͙͓̞̮̹̼͔͚͇͍͇̙͚̭̫̠̩̯͕̺̭̩̈̌̈͊̔̊͊̂͛͗̃͗̌͐͋̾̌̚̚͝ơ̴̢͉͉̫͙̄̿̌͑̿͒͆̿̔̈́̋͑̒͆͗͝͝ ̴̡̧͚͉͈͓̥̤̲̳͖͖͖̻͓̝̥͇͙̞̬̰̖̍̏ų̸͈̯̪̩̱͚͍̺̤̲̣͍̹̪̩̭̱̘̘̓̎̈́̏̓͑̋̎̾̎̐̓͛̓̐̈́̂́͌͌̈́̉̕͜͜ͅ ̴̞̫̟̺̗͚͓̹̘͍̖̦̣̺̭̳̪̪͓̲̥̰̞̿r̷̛͉̻̼͎̲̝̲̠̠̯̲̼͔̤̫̤̞̥͋̂̂̉͋̽͊̈́̽͒̅̄̈̍͆̊̏͒̕͠͝ͅ ̴̡͙̺̭͖̼̟̖̫̭̯̯̝̫̳͓̯̝̽̃̒̾͛͊̃̅̆̀̉̍̈́͌̽̋̍̉̏͑͛̒̿̈́͗͝ ̷̨̣͓̭͚͓̪̬̯̹͚̪̪̖̪̥̠͔̳̗͍͕̟̘̺̐̈́͜͜ͅḩ̷̢̡̠͉͙̦͎̪̘̟̩̮̳͉͕̮̻̩̑̃͗̊̽̉̋̆̅͋̾̏͝ ̸̢̡̳͚̘̘͇͈̟̮͇̦̖̬̘̟͉͕͓̬͖̳͕̬̻̞̥͛̈̀̈́̾̈́͋̇̆̔̍́̍̈́̒͑̈́̊̄͑̒̈́̏̾͘͘͜͝͠͠ȩ̷̧̧̡̢̧̥̻͇͈̞͓̬̪͙̤̠̘̪̘̥̗͚͚͈̩̗̋̽̂̊͆̃̈́͑͐̇͒̅̽̾̎̾̿͗͑͝͝ͅ ̶̧̧͍̰̤͎̬̻̦̭̗̻͖̪͔͔̲̞̘̟̘̹͇̎͜a̷͙̖̞̘͔̟̺̭͍̙̮͈̬̤̲͙̠̼͑̊̃͛͒̾̐̔̃͜ͅ ̷̧̧̢̜̯̲͍͉͚̮̟͚̭̻͖́̆̅̈́͌̈̎̈́͆̀̉̅̿̌͊̋͒̏̚͘ͅḍ̵̙̠͎͊̆̀͒̏̎͐̈́̆͊́͂̓̒̒͛̈́̊͂̓͂̄̕̕͝_ **

 

This-

 

Easily heard through the chaos, even though it was at its normal volume, a voice speaks calmly. _Progam_blank._ It says pleasantly, and everything just... 

Shuts down.   
  
Kiibo pauses, disoriented by the all-too sudden quiet. Miu catches a glance at him from the corner of her eyes, and he looks away, choosing instead to try to move past her as she backs in front of the door. In front of _him_ , as if to protect him. He laughs nervously, eyeing her oversized hammer. “Iruma-Iruma-san,” he whispers, reaching out a hand tentatively.

“This was fun while it lasted, but the-the joke’s gone old by now,” his voice lowers drastically by the last part as he watches her expressions shift into unreadable changes. “It’s not a _fucking joke,_ Kiibo,” she whispers, hand tightening around her weapon. “If I don’t kill him _now,_ then _who fucking will?_ I’m the _only one_ willing to-“ she stops herself, “the only one whose _smart_ enough to know _who he really is._ So he’s gonna die for a good cause, anyway.” 

She...actually believes what she just said. He could see her previously tense shoulders relax, her rigid posture slumping just slightly. She speaks louder and louder, voice just slightly muffled by the air that swept through the rooftop, ruffling their hair.

 

But...she was his friend. Even if- even if Ouma really _was_ the ringleader — which he would deny vehemently until the day he got deactivated — he didn’t want Miu to kill one of _his friends_ like this.

 

He doesn’t want Kokichi to die alone.

 

-

 

Shuichi fiddles with the cell phone, tapping in a code absentmindedly.

 

-

 

Kiibo freezes, eyes glowing a lighter neon blue; it pulses softly despite its harsh light. and He slowly steps back into the stairway, closing the door until there’s only a crack with stray bits of snow slipping in.

 

Miu doesn't so much as spare him a glance. She’s already stalked away from the stairs anyway. A bit of him registers faintly that Kokichi is looking at him, _do something do something please just_ **_do_ ** _something already!_ But he can feel his body functions stutter to a halt, pressing himself against the wall as if waiting for something.

 

Someone?

 

-

 

Kaito looks antsy.

 

-

 

Miu reaches out as Kokichi flinches back. Her gaze is ice; her grin is unnaturally wide. It’s desperate, and then—

 

Gonta _crashes_ out from his hiding place, toilet paper fluttering and landing on Miu’s shoulders, almost lace-like, before tightening around her neck. The fear of asphyxiation and _who who_ **_who?!_ ** fills her with something like _fear_ , and behind the blurry haze of desperate gasps and pain-twisted convulsions, she can see violet irises that widen in confusion and muffled yelling.

 

The pain subsides, and she’s hacking, gulping heaving breaths of air.

 

Loud sniffling sounds begin as a brown, blurry lump collapses, holding tight to what could’ve been her very own murder weapon. _Toilet paper._ What a way to go. “H-haha,” what escapes her mouth is nothing short of a pained whisper, and she grasps at her heart while laughing hysterically.   
  
“How _goddamn_ ironic! The _mastermind,_ someone’s whose killed what now? Seven people? Saves me? Oh, i’m so _fucking_ sorry, did I run out of use to you? Gyhahaha-haa!” She rubs her throat, looking back at Gonta, who’s quiet, staring disconsoably at the murder weapon in his hands.

 

Kokichi for once looks completely and utterly confused for some unknown reason. She checks over her words again, mentally. Nothing he couldn’t understand, unless he was feigning innocence.

 

“Miu,” he reaches before hesitating, looking unsure of himself. “What...do you mean?” His hand is closer now; her hand is free. A tap to the arm is all it takes before he goes stock still. his eyes dart around in subdued surprise. Miu raises her hammer, swinging it around her like a maniac, successfully warding away Gonta and making Kokichi wince at every slash of the air that whips mercilessly at his face.

  
She grunts a bit, cackling as the hammer whips closer and closer to Kokichi’s face while he was powerless to stop it. Originally, she meant the murder to be a painless one. But...

“Who is so—fucking— _stupid enough_ to set a wallpaper of yourself into your _own mastermind thingamajig?!”_ She taps him lightly at first with the tip, just enough to graze his skin with rough metals, beads of crimson pink stain the white clothes. Gonta is temporarily incapacitated, downed by a rogue hammer swing. For the first time in a while, Kokichi is _utterly incapacitated_ _—_ alone.

 

Kokichi realizes he is at the mercy of an insane inventory who is thirsty for _his_ blood. He winces at the next scrape, and the next, and the next and the next and the next and the next—

 

She attacks with a intoxicated fervor, gleeful and excited at the cuts, happy for the sharp edges of the tool that _came_ like that. Kokichi is quiet, hissing at every other gash or scrape, knowing that his body back in the real world was _fine, was fine, was fine_ , but—

She raises the hammer; he winces at the sting of blood that attempts to invade his eyes. He’s kneeling on the ground, as if bowing to someone, and it takes _such a damn blow to his pride_ as he lowers his head quietly.

 

Kiibo...where is...

 

The door squeals open, hitting the wall with a hard _thud,_ as someone dashes to Miu. They grab her from behind,causing her to growl in momentary confusion before she hits the ground with her assailant. They seem to be grappling furiously, and Gonta is shaking off his dizziness awkwardly.

Dark blue invades his vision, pain and aches everywhere. Something pink and... He hits the ground groggily. He feels like... he was bleeding out. And he was, wasn’t he? The blue blob tries to gather him up in their arms; they succeed halfway.   
  
He melts into the touch, letting out a carefully restrained sob every time the other person’s clothes brush his cuts. “...ma-kun..ouma-kun..shh, you’re alright, you’ll be fine…” They gather up his little avatar, and run off to what he thinks is...   
  
What he thinks is...

 

Kokichi falls asleep in Shuichi’s arms.

 

-

 

Gonta cries out in confusion, before taking the unbreakable prop and wrapping it tightly around her neck. Kaito pushes him down as Miu tries to recover from the sudden loss of air.

The poor giant is sobbing miserably, closing his eyes and dashing for the astronaut. Kaito steals the the paper from Gonta’s hands, and Miu scrabbles for her hammer, which had hit the far side of the rooftop

“W-wait, no,” she whimpers in defeat, moving to the edge of the roof. “Calm down,” Kaito mutters, wrapping toilet paper-shit, that’s weird-around her like a rope, “Stay still.” Miu grumbles before freezing stock-still, face pale as something runs towards them.

 

“H-he’s—” She stutters, alerting Kaito in time to jump away from Gonta, tear trails fresh-dried on his cheeks, who hits the ground with deadly accuracy right in front of the inventory.

 

“Gonta! Shit, what’s gotten into you?”  
  
“The outside world — all a lie!” Gonta whispers hoarsely. “Kokichi-”   


Of _fucking_ course, it’s Kokichi.

 

 _“_ Gonta has to do this! For Gonta, for Miu, for you! Gonta — Gonta sorry!”   
  
Kaito, at first, is afraid. Then, a realization slowly knocks inside his brain, and once in, it’s the only thing he can think about. These avatars…have the same level of strength as all the others, right?

He runs right up to Gonta and makes a grab for the hammer. They wrestle around with it, hitting random places while Miu sits helplessly, watching and yelling at them to let her go.

She can only watch as the hammer nears her.   
  
Her eyes only roll up in their sockets, and she slumps back.

 

Kaito and Gonta can only stare, hands both on the weapon.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> >:3c


	5. Saihara Shuichi (Log 1, Chapter 5)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you know,,,,,,,,im a terrible person adskjfh  
> its been like a year but  
> ple ase dont kil l me??  
>  _i gave you 3k words please dont kill me_  
>  ahem i'd also like to thank my fren chi for their betaing my mess uwu t hnak

Pain. For a split second, that’s all he felt. A strange, inexplicable fire rising from his gut to his arms, rushing into his bloodstream with a vengeance. He struggled in what felt like highly constricting bonds, choking on an impossibly painful fire that incinerated his insides and rose to his throat, acid rising up--

 

Kokichi let out a choked gasp and slumped backward in his seat, letting the briefest wave of nausea make its way through his esophagus, gag reflexes acting up from incoming vomit- he choked and heaved, trying desperately to claw the stubborn feeling from his throat. Supreme Leaders shouldn’t--- shouldn’t--

He curled in on his stomach and tried not to hurl. A blanket, he realized, that had covered half his body slipped to the floor, unabated in its journey to the cold grounds. He kept one hand rubbing slowly over his stomach to stave away nausea, the other reaching around thin air to grab for even a scrap of the fabric.

Baby blue, ugh. He weakly pushed it to the other side of his all too comfy chair. “Go away, meanie...I need to get up..” It seemed to promptly refuse at that idea, because he realized it was wrapped around his midsection, holding onto him like some kind of stupid kid seatbelt. “What the..?”

The _whirrr_ of the supercomputer, the one everyone’s minds were apparently connected to, glowed with an eerily fuchsia light that lit the- what he assumed to be stylistic- ‘cracks’ of the computer like some fucking Minecraft glowstone.

He shuddered at the mental image of the outside world being purely blocks. If he’d seen _that_ in the gateway of what used to be a possible escape, forget the killing game; he’d just die, right then and there. Jump and fall off one of the many obstacles that blocked their path in their painstaking journey to see the world beyond the stupid glass dome.

The soft, bright glow of the lights pervaded his thoughts still. He pried his eyes off the supercomputer and looked at the room that he sat in, where he, just a few- minutes-? Hours?- ago, cheerfully jumped into the simulation with the rest of them. His classmates, but it was weird to say that when he never learned anything with them, nor saw them all in one place at once except for the..entrance ceremony.

 

The School of Gifted Juveniles, right..? Sounded like they were all criminals. “...Well, I guess they weren’t wrong, hmm?” His voice echoed loud in the chamber, the only other humans (and Kiibo) simply breathing softly in their sleep.

 

...Without their minds, was he just surrounded by dolls?

 

He examined the lab around him. Everyone was in slumped positions, oddly looking more relaxed than he'd ever seen them, varying in their postures to the point that their distinct personalities- the personalities that defined them as Ultimates- practically became evident even with a passing glance. Himiko’s slumped state and turned somewhat on her side in the way only an experienced sleeper could do while sleeping, Shirogane’s hands on the armrest still but properly sitting up, like the terribly plain person she was, Shuichi…

 

Saihara’s head tilted prettily, just enough for Kokichi to catch a glimpse of eyelashes poking through that navy-coloured hair he wanted to run his hands through and play with--

Except he knows it would be terrible to do, and horribly awkward if Shuichi just so happens to wake up to Kokichi just-- just hugging his head or sniffing his hair or something embarrassing and ruinous to his Supreme Leader visage.

Kaito's hands were firmly clutching the seat he resided in, legs tense and as if he would jump up at the slightest trigger. Small, minimal threads of sweat ran occasionally down his face, and he twitched in what Ouma realized was hardly contained-

 

..He wasn't sure what it was, actually. Just that Kaito had it, and it wasn't the best emotion to feel in that virtual world. He wondered if Kaito had found a ghost in the virtual world.

He turned his gaze away from Kaito; if he stared for too long, it'd just be...weird.

 

Also gay, but that was less of a concern because he was just that.

 

..Gay.

 

Anyways.

 

Kiibo, Shirogane, Himiko, Maki...looked fine. Shuichi looked pretty fine, in many ways.

 

Miu was...wow. That did not look good. Oh god. His hands shakily knocked against the headset as he gripped onto the armrest for support, stumbling up. Something clinked to the ground as the blanket wrapped around his waist dragged along with him. At most, he’d expected Miu to look more...lively in her own posture. She instead, was slumped over, looking almost...dead.

 

He had to check—somehow. He had to check.

 

His hands shook, from either the cold or the freezing air, cold and relentless in its push, digging into his skin. Stinging pains he tried to compress despite the pale hue of unmarked skin and no hint of pastel pink on him. His-for some reason, weak-- legs refused to move, hindering his progress so much it was aggravating to even move off his chair. The blanket warned him that this was a lost battle. He told it to shut up and commanded his legs to  _move, move._

Nothing happened. Whenever he walked, a sharp pain would coarse through his arms and burn his body. It became clear that he wasn't-wouldn't- be able to freely walk around for the time being. 

He pulled the blanket over his entire body and hid under the mass of baby blue.

 

Something cold pressed on his back.

 

-

 

Shuichi bit his lip, feeling exceedingly tense at the liquid coloring his avatar pink and small, muted gurgles of pain muffled by upcoming blood that rose every time the detective’s clothes shifted, but it wasn’t like he could go walking leisurely. He fought the urges to inflict maybe a few more wounds on Kokichi, maybe just a snitch or two-

Kokichi would die slower, and while he often enjoyed things..like that, he’d planned for Kokichi’s death to be...explosive. Beautiful. The last streak of paint on a canvas that brought the rest of the colors to life.

 

Now that streak of opalescent color was bleeding out pink in his arms.

 

He wondered, very very briefly, why exactly the team informed him that they were changing the coding Miu had set in, so that their avatars could bleed. It, at the time, was the strangest request, but he let it pass anyway due to their claiming that the blood was for ‘dramatic effect.’ Shuichi really should’ve been informed some more- this almost murder _reallly_ caught him off-guard.

...but really, poetry was never his strong suit, wasn’t it? He, almost cheerfully, jostled Kokichi in his arms. “Nn-nngh..,” the boy groaned in response. Shuichi wondered- with a morbid type of curiosity he prided himself on- exactly how long Kokichi could take the jolts until he threw up. The little leader was already close to doing so, he’d imagine…

Well, he couldn’t interfere as the mastermind, after all- the team didn’t allow it-...so he interfered as the protagonist. The perks of having a double role was fun and all, but if he was an ‘NPC’ like the rest of the cast, would that mean he had a triple role? Maybe a double role as the ‘theme-holder’ or this season?

 

The lump of avatar shifted, cartoonish pastel covering Shuichi’s arms. It brought him back to the present.

 

_“J-just please, get Ouma-kun to the outside world--!”_

 

...

 

He blinked. Those weren’t his words. But they sounded like him. And acted like him. Like the little amalgamation, his man-made creation actually became him for a moment.

 

Well, he couldn’t blame them. Really though, Maki out of all people for the little prick to pick? Maki would want Kokichi dead the most, he knew. She was supposed to be like that. But, when her unnaturally cold gaze landed on Kokichi, for a moment, it looked like she was staring at a child, with forced patience and calm concern.

It takes a moment and Saihara’s suddenly blank expression on his avatar, then Maki reluctantly grabs Kokichi, looking unbothered at the pink she’s already beginning to be stained with.

Shuichi thanks her, attempting to keep in-character. She stares at him strangely and opens her mouth to speak, but--

She tries to talk to Shuichi, but he’s too busy, already trudging through the snow to dash across that bridge and get to Kaito and Gonta.

Cameras couldn’t compare to real life, after all.

 

-

 

Maki was never one to help. She was the go-to if anyone wanted to have another dead. It didn’t matter the reason, or social standing, what mattered was the money involved and the way the target was killed.

Additionally, she was never the kind of person who people naturally trusted. With a red visage, cold glare, dozens of knives-- weapons-- at arm’s reach.

Then, she was sprinting as far as her little avatar body could take her, with some little shit in her arms. The cold press of a feverishly warm body contrasted so much, she imagined if it were the real world and if Ouma were bleeding any more of a worrying amount than before, she’d be drenched in blood, looking as if she came out of a massacre.  
  
What _exactly_ had her life come to..?  
  
  
The phone came close.  
  


She smacked Ouma’s face around lightly, increasing the strength with every slap. “C’mon,” She muttered, flicking him on the forehead in substitute of actually killing him. “I’m not saying your rat name for you, you know..”

Nothing more than hiss that dissolved into what Maki never thought she’d hear from Ouma-- a stupidly defenseless sound that...didn’t really affect her much besides the dulled human empathy she’d learned to suppress.

...god, she sounded like an emo right now, didn’t she? This stupid fake leader was affecting her and her psyche the longer she remained uncomfortably close to him. She sighed harshly, pinching her avatar nose. “Fine. Fine, but if you ever _try_ to pull off such a _stupid_ whatever you did, I’m not gonna be the one saving you.”

She stuck his body in front of the telephone, placing the phone to his ear before pulling back as far away as her arms could physically go, speaking for him. “Ouma Kokichi.”

As his avatar shimmered away into little fading hues of blue, her eyes narrowed. “..better thank Shuichi for this later, you little shit.”

A hand extended to the phone, and she spoke her name.  


“Maki Harukawa.”

 

-

 

Kokichi gave a little start. The glass pressed cold against his back for a solid three seconds, but his little blanket-bubble of protection had broken through, and he awkwardly reached behind him to grab it, not daring to look at the label until he could have solid control of his own body.

 

…

 

A substance that was poison, but…

 

A prolonged glance revealed it was either a really high dose of some powerful sedative, or some kind of stupid poison that movies used as props. He turned and twisted until his whole body was upside down (still wincing from phantom pains as he checked out the bottom of the chair.

 

…There was another bottle. _This one was the lethal one._

 

He was no fool. A liar, an asshole, sure, but Kokichi sure as hell wasn’t anything like a fool. His eyes wandered across the floor.

 

...Little drudge marks on the floor, stained with dirt from the outside of the academy, made a little whirl around the room before leaving.

 

..two, four.

 

Wasn’t Miu working alone?

 

Maki pulled down her headset. She seemed...calmer than usual, content, but hesitant. As if she didn’t want to leave the virtual world for some reason.

 

( _She didn’t want to leave the Virtual World, because it was a world without me there.)_

 

He levelled a leering smile at her. “Well hello, missus murderer. How was your rendezvous in the Virtual World?”

 

Her glare made him feel like things were back to normal. “You think,” she started, with a strained tone as if she were trying to not smite him on the spot.  “I’d just let you taunt me if you got...a little hurt in that fake world..?”  


 

...

  


...What, did she mean?

  


“What’dya mean, Makiroll? I did nothing of the sort!” His arms, which he had unconsciously risen to his head in a laid back posture he considered his ‘casual’ position, were forced back down to the chair, knowing that if what happened in the world had affected Maki so much as to not make her utterly destroy him at first sight, it must’ve been important.

Her visible surprise reflected that. “You…what..?”  
  
The headset gave an awkward _clatter_ as she practically strutted up to Kokichi’s own headset, checking the cords. “...They seem to be in order, so why..?”  
  
Kokichi wasn’t too comfortable with a murderer being so close, so he ramped up the childishness and pushed her back with a loud wail that would’ve surely woken up the others if they weren’t stuck in the virtual world he never got to see. “WAHHHH--! MAKI-CHAN’S GONNA _KILL_ MEEEEEEEEE--!”

She stumbled back, and though it was only by a few millimeters, it filled him with a small sense of satisfaction. One small step for Maki (literally), one giant leap for short, weak kids (Kokichi)! Her brow furrowed in frustration, and she smacked his hand away harshly this time, examining it through. “Seems right, so what did you get wrong--what did you see when you put this on?  


  
He paused.  
  
  


“I’m only telling my beloved Shumai!”

“We need to know this, Ouma, this is and could be vital information--”  
  
“I WANT SHUMAI.”

“...Fine! Fine, goddamnit, fine. I’ll get him myself.”  
  
“Why can’t I come wiiiiith?”

 

She eyes him, and reaches for his arm. 

 

He unconsciously pulls it back, away from the burning touch he'd quickly learned to despise. Something painful and sharp, like a papercut, felt as if it were rubbing against his clothing, drawing blood.

Maki sighs, and tugs up the other half of the baby blue blanket from off the floor.

 

“What are you _doing to me, Makiroll-chan.”_

 

“Shut up!” Her cheeks puff up ever so slightly in indignation before settling back into her normal position. He tries moving his arms to find out he can’t. The blanket is suffocating in its embrace, and his legs are absolutely swaddled. Between mouthfuls of cloth, he tries to speak, but it comes out as, “Mmmphah diiiiph youuf _do_ to mmmphme--!”

 

“I’m sorry, you reminded me so much of a child I thought I’d treat you as one. Now be good and I’ll get Shuichi.”

 

“Y--oou _fmmpphhuuuph--!”_

 

Maki logged back on with a self-satisfied smile on her face.

 

-

 

“Tsumugi, have you seen Saihara?”  
  
“N-no, I..I didn’t see him after.. Is Ouma alright? I’m not sure if you’d know, because--... well, I’m sure it’s plainly obvious to see if we just log off, right? But…”

Maki nodded and prepared to slip off. Tsumugi, on the other hand, had her own plans. “Can..can I come with you? It feels...plainly boring without anyone to talk to.”  
  
“...sure, you can come with. As long as you keep up.”

 

“A-Ah, okay!”

 

Shuichi choked in surprise when he saw Gonta. Last he’d known, the giant was..

Said giant noticed him. “Ah, Saihara-san! Gonta came back from patrol..--” Shuichi cut him off, a little harshly but not nearly to Ouma’s level. “Gokuhara-kun...have you seen Kiibo around? Or Momota-kun?”

The giant looked so downtrodden it made part of Shuichi want to offer an awkward hug, despite knowing how strange the whole situation was and should’ve been to Gonta.

 

“N-no, Gonta has not seen them…”

 

Maki tore across the snowy landscape, across the bridge before grabbing Shuichi’s arm and harshly whispering in his ear. “Come with me.” Shuichi let himself be pulled along, Shirogane waving awkwardly at him with a supporting smile before she ran off to Gonta. Even with her capped prowess, Maki’s assassin talent felt as if it ascended coding and such strength was awarded to her avatar.

 

It almost made him feel proud.

 

She didn’t bother to say hello to anyone, she simply walked over to the phone as if she didn’t just run across the entire world just to get him.

“Are...you going to..?” 

“Yeah, I’m getting to it-- Ouma’s basically being a brat and not telling me what we need to know.”  
  
“..Ah.”  
  
“Also he’s swaddled in some blankets and probably gonna suffocate soon if we don’t log out now.”  
  
“W- _what?”_  
  


_“_ Maki Harukawa.”  
  
  
“H-Hey, don’t just leave-..!..I.”

 

“....Shuichi Saihara.”

-

  
Shuichi pulled the headset over his head, placing it gingerly on the ground before he looked over at Kokichi. “Ouma--!” He hissed in barely contained anticipation. A million questions flitted through his mind, only some of which able to settle in coherent thought. “A-are you alright?” He whispered, as if he was going to wake up everyone else despite their consciousness being in another world. 

The lump of blue on Kokichi’s chair shifted. Little strands of purple poked out the opening, and when the leader turned around, Shuichi could barely keep himself from choking in surprise and/or laughing. Kokichi looked like a _man baby_. Or at the very least, a very bright worm. “...p-pff—hrrgnk-!”

Kokichi whined, wiggling wildly in his cocoon. Voice somewhat muffled, he cried, “Shuuuuumphaiii, hewhhph youff supwfeme leadfer ouuuut!” He tried to say more too, but the fabric shut him up pretty good. Shuichi leveled a thumbs up at Maki as she watched the Kokichi-cocoon wiggle around.

 

“Can we keep him like that forever? Less annoying that way.”

 

“H- _Harukawa-san!”_

 

Shuichi brushed off his pants and stood up, moving so he could be in front of Kokichi. Said leader watched him with curious eyes, but put up quite the struggle when it became obvious that Shuichi was  not going to free him from the baby-blue hell he was swaddled in.

Shuichi kneeled over Kokichi’s body, gently pulling back the blue ‘hood’ of the swaddle on the leader’s head before reaching to pat his hair.

 

“Hold on, please..Ouma-kun.”

 

“...?”

 

Shuichi lowered his voice to a whisper, “..are you alright?” Kokichi could only nod, eyes focused on the terrifyingly pretty face that was invading his personal space. His hair was brushed back gently, slowly, and he had to restrain himself from leaning into the warm touch., gentle and reassuring in the ways he’d only remember from a long time ago, back when things were simple and he could be stupid with people he felt comfortable being stupid around. Once he did, the detective’s face sagged in automatic relief. “...good, that’s... very good.”

“..why?” Kokichi’s voice was hoarse, a bit raspy, but he could communicate the question pretty damn well. _Why_ did Shuichi think Kokichi...wasn’t alright?”

 

“Wh—why is it good?”

 

“...”

 

“Ahem.” Shuichi’s head turned to Maki, and he wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or jealous that his attention left Kokichi. Maki tilted her head to Kokichi, as if trying to remind Shuichi to do..something. Shuichi seemed to catch onto it, and he turned back to Kokichi slowly. Kokichi braced himself for any incoming questions.

 

“Ouma-kun…do you even _remember_ what happened in the World Program..?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My discord tag also changed because i am a highkey idiot! :D its now NightDream#4851! 
> 
> Anyways please pray that I release another chapter for any of my fics im so unreliable its wild  
> Shuichi arc should end probably in like 2-4 chapters owo

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah I know it’s weird running high on nothing but this rly good drink thing
> 
> And..um actually I have nothing to say except :D
> 
> And that’s it


End file.
